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(No Model.)

- J. R. BAKER.

BEARING FOR GAR AXLB'S.

Patented July 12, 1881.

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WITNESSES UNITED STATES PATENT OEEicE.

JACKSON R. BAKER, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

BEARING FOR CAR-AXLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 244,107, dated July 12, 1881.

I Application filed March 11, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACKSON R. BAKER, of Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Bearing-Brass for (Jar-Axles, Shafting,

&c. and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification.

Thisinvention is in the nature of an improvement in bearing-brasses for car-axles, shaftin g, 850.; and the invention consists in bearingbrasses for car-axles, shaftin g, and similar contrivances,havingacircular convexbearing-surface centrally placed with a curb surrounding it and concentric therewith, and with semicircular curbs or stops concentric with said curb and said convex bearing-surface, all formed in and upon the upper surface of the bearingbrass, in combination with a disk with a plane l" upper surface and a concave depression formed in its lower surface, together with an axle box or housing that has the under surface of its top plate with a centrally-located circular recess surrounded by a concentric curb, and havin g stops projecting from said curb toward the rear of the housing, all constructed, arranged, and combined in the manner hereinafter more particularly shown and described, whereby the bearing-brass may be kept parallel with the axle under all circumstances.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings, Figure 1 represents a part longitudinal section of my improved bearing-brass and housing 3 5 with axle therein Fig. 2, a cross-section of same in the line at m, Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a view of under side of top plate of housing; Fig. 4, a

side view of the bearing-brass and axle without outer flange; Fig. 5, edge view of metal disk, and Fig. 6 an under-side view of bearing-brass, showing ribs for anti-friction metal. Similarletters of reference indicatelike parts in the several figures.

This invention more particularly relates to 4 5 bearing-brasses for car-axles and shafting, constructed and arranged to have lateral and other motion withinthe axle box or housing, so as to accommodate itself to the positions assumed by the axle when-passin g around curves 50 or over inequalities in the track of a railway. It is well known to those who arefamiliar l with railways and the construction of its rolling-stock that, by reason ,of the immovable bearings within the axle boxes or housings, when the axle, by its wheel, is forced around curves greater strain is brought against some parts of the bearing-brasses than at others, which results in the brasses being more rapidly worn away at such places than at others, causing them to heat and be destroyed. The same is true when the road-bed or rails have inequalities in them. Besides, when the bearingbrasses are immovably fixed within the housing the axle is held exactly at right angles to the sides of the car to which it is attached, so that when passing around curves the flanges of the wheels are forced, to a certain extent, tangentially in contact with the rails, causing the wheel-flanges to ultimately wear thin and break and jump the track and result in accident.

To avoid these objectionable features I construct my bearing-brasses for the axles so that they can, to some extent, have a lateral and other motion, enabling them to assume positions at all times parallel with the axis of the axles, and yield for that purpose to every change of position that the axles are forced to assume by the curves and inequalities in the road. To that end I construct my bearing- -brass A with a .convex bearing-surface, B,

centrally formed on the upper side of the brass. This convex bearing is of a diameter nearly equal to the width of the brass. Surrounding this convex bearing B is a curb, U, concentric with the bearing-surfaceB, and from this curb, extending from the front and rear sides of it, are curved and angular surfaces to, terminating in semicircular curbs D, at or near the ends of the bearing-brass A, which last-named curbs are concentric with the curb G. On the outer sides, b, of the bearing-brass, and midway from its ends, are formed bearings E. The under surface of the bearing-brass A is lined with any suitable anti-friction metal, as usual, which metal may be held to the'bearing brass in any mannerldesired, but preferably by reason of the dovetailed recesses 0 cast in the bearing-brass.

To the bearing-brass A, constructed as above described, is fitted a disk, F, of steel or other suitable metal. This disk is of a diameter equal to the diameterof the convex bearing B, and its under side has formed in it a concave surface,

.G,with a radius corresponding with the radius of the convex surface 13, so that this convex surface may be received within said concavity. The upper surface of the disk F has a plane surface, d, and the lower part of its edge is beveled, as at e, to correspond with the curb O, which has its edge or sides likewise beveled.

Upon the under surface, f, of the upper plate, 9, of the axle box orhousing H is formed a circular recess, I, surrounded bya concentric curb, J, and projecting rearward from this curb, and from its outer sides, are two parallel stops, K. Also, to the under side of this top plate of the housing-are fitted the ordinary drawing-lugs h.

N ow,my bearing-brass and axle box or housing, when constructed substantially as hereinbefore described, is operated in this way: The disk F is placed with its concave surface Gr onto the convex bearing B, so that this convex bearing will be received within the concavity in the disk F. Theplane surface at of this disk is now placed within the recess I in the under side of the top plate, 9, of the axle box or housing H. In this position the bearing-brass A is received between the drawing-lugs h, so that the bearin gs E on the sides of the bearing-brass A will be immediately adjacent to the inner surface of these lugs. The bearing-brass A, when in thiswayplaced,has its'curb O in contact with the beveled side 6 of the disk F, and the semicircular curbs D loosely fitting around the curb J on the under surface, f, of the top plate, 9, of the axle box or housing, the sides of the bearing-brass entering between the parallel stops K on the under side of the top plate, 9, of the axle box or housing. The axle L is next placed within the bearing-brass Ain the ordinary manner, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Now, when the several parts before described are in this way combined and arranged, the entire superincumbent weight of the car and its load is borne directly by the disk F, which is interposed between the bearing-brass Aand the top plate of the housing in the manner before described 3 and since this disk is received with its concave surface G onto the convex bearing B it can have a free, though limited, motion, not unlike the motion produced by a universal joint-that is, the bearing-brass A can by this means have a lateral as well as vertical movement, and also some other motions incident to this form of joint. As the bearing-brass moves sidewise or laterally its motion in this direction is controlled or limited by the bearings E, which are brought in contact with the drawing-lugs h, and its motion in this direction is also limited by the sides k, which are brought in contact alternately with the parallel stops K. The vertical or vertical-rocking motion of the bearing-brass A, as well as its forward and backward motion, is limited by the semicircular curbs D, which are brought in contact with the curb J, so that, while this bearing-brass has an irregular or almost universal motion its several motions are controlled in the manner just described.

Now, it will be seen that when the axle of a car-wheel is combined with a bearing-brass and the devices before named, it is not immovably fixed at right angles to the sides of the car, but, to the contrary, as the wheels pass around a curve of the track or over inequalities therein, the bearing-brass A will accommodate itself to the additional force brought to bear on the wheels as they pass around the curve or over inequalities, so as to assume positions that will be parallel, or nearly parallel, with the axle within the brass, thereby permitting the axle to yield to the changes in the surface of the road, the bearing-brass also changing, as before stated, so as to be substantially parallel with the axle in its changes, thereby causing the axle or its journal to bear evenly on the brass, and not on some points more than others, thus preventing undue friction and consequent heating and cutting out of the brasses. Besides, as the axle of the wheels .is permitted to yield to a change of surface in the road, the wheels on the axle can, to some e of thatdisk and the beveled surfaces a on the brass A, between the curb O and the semicircular curbs D.

Axles are usually provided with an outer flange, M, the purpose of which is to control the lateral motion of the axle within the brass by opposing it to one end of the brass, and opposing the shoulder N to the other end of the brass; but with my improved bearingbrass and its accompanying housing and the devices before described I can dispense with this outer flange, M, since the lateral thrust or play of the shaft is received by the end a of the brass from the shoulder N of the axle, and borne directly by the semicircular curbs or stops D in contact with the curb J in the under side of the top plate, 9, of the housing H or journal-box; and since each axle is eonstructed with two of these shoulders N, the lateral thrust of the shaft is checked in this way by one shoulder and its brass and stops in one direction,and by the other shoulder N and its brass and stops in the other direction. This results in a material saving in the cost of car-axles and shafting and lessens their frictional surfaces. Still, if desired, the axles may be provided with the outer flanges, M.

In the under side of the bearing-brass are cast a series of ribs, 0, of dovetailed section, for the purpose of holding to the brass the anti-friction metal t, so that when this metal is run into this under side of the brass it is effectually dovetailed in place by these ribs.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A bearing-brass for axles, shafting, &c., with a convex bearing formed on its upper surface surrounded by a concentric curb, and with concentric semicircular curbs or stops, also formed on its upper surface, in combination with a metal disk with a concave lower surface fitted onto the convex bearing, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In a bearing-brass for axles, shafting, &c., a convex bearing and curb and stops on its upper surface, in combination with a disk fitted thereon, and a journal box or housing with a recess in the under side of its top plate, said recess being surrounded by a curb, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. In a bearing-brass for axles, shafting, 850.,

sides k, in combination with parallel stops K, secured to the under side of the top plate of the housing or axle-box, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. In a bearing-brass for axles, shafting, 8w, the combination of an axle or shaft with a bearin g brass provided with a convex bearingsurface, and with curbs and stops, and a metal disk fitted thereto, and an axle-box with the under side of its top plate provided with a circular recess and surrounding curb and parallel stops, substantially as and for the purpose described.

J. R. BAKER.

Witnesses H. L. WATTENBURG, G. M. PLYMPToN. 

